1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to walking canes, and, more particularly, to an apparatus for facilitating grasping and lifting small objects with a walking cane.
2. Summary of the Related Art
While canes are well know for providing support and stability for individuals having difficulty walking, it is understood that many individuals requiring the use of a cane for walking lack an ability to bend over and retrieve small objects from the floor or ground. Therefore, a number of canes have been described in the patent art to provide an individual using the cane with apparatus, forming a permanent part of the cane, providing a gripping mechanism for grasping small objects at the foot of the cane and an actuation mechanism for operating the gripping mechanism near the handle of the cane.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,392,800, 5,636,650 and 5,640,985 all describe hollow canes in which tension applied to a cable extending within the hollow cane body causes a grasping arm pivotally mounted near the lower rubber tip of the can to pivot inward, closing a gap against the rubber cane tip to grasp an object, with a spring also attached to the grasping arm being used to pivot the grasping arm outward, away from the cane tip, and to maintain tension within the cable. In the device of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,392,800 and 5,640,985, the cable is pulled by pivoting a lever near the handle of the cane. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,650, the cable is pulled by sliding a finger grip located below the cane handle, and a system of pulleys slidably mounted within the cane provides for operation of the grasping arm after the length of the cane is varied by sliding one tube within another.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,226 describes a gripping device, not a cane, having a tube, a shoehorn mounted at a distal end of the tube, and a pivotally mounted grasping arm which is pulled toward the shoehorn at the distal end of the tube by means of a cord extending within the tube. This patent also describes the use of a magnet at the distal end of the tube to attract magnetic metal objects.
Other patents describe a mechanism extending external to the body of the cane for moving a pivotally mounted grasping arm. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,160, the grasping arm is pulled into contact with the rubber cane tip by means of a cable extending along the outside of the cane, with the cable being pulled by pivoting a lever near the crane handle. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,316, a four-bar linkage external to the cane body is used, with a link extending between a crank moved by an actuating lever and a crank moving the grasping arm. In this device, a shaft extending from the lower tip of the cane body, holding a rubber tip to provide walking assistance, can be replaced with a shoehorn.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,467,116, 3,763,872, and 4,811,780 describe canes having grasping mechanisms that are formed to extend radially outward from the distal end of the cane, and which are deflected radially inward by being pulled upward, into a tube or a pair of holes, or by having a tube pulled downward over the grasping mechanism. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,116 describes a tubular cane including a pair of grasping fingers, which are held apart by a spring and which are held together by the tube of the cane. The grasping fingers are attached by a rod extending within the tube to a sliding sleeve near the handle. When the rod is moved downward, the fingers are moved apart as they are extended from the end of the tube. When the rod is then moved upward, the fingers are pulled together, grasping an object lying between them. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,872, vertical movement of a post slidably mounted within a tubular cane is used to open and close the fingers. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,750, the two fingers move outward through holes in the distal end of the cane, with the holes being arranged to allow increasing outward movement of one of the fingers as they are moved downward by a spring. The fingers are returned into the cane by pressing downward on the cane with at least one of the fingers on the ground, and with the object to be grasped between them.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,303 describes a cane configured particularly for retrieving, grasping, and setting golf balls and tees.
Another approach to provide a cane having an ability to pick up objects from a floor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,824, in the form of a hollow cane having an internal battery, motor, and a fan to produce a vacuum drawing air through an inverted cup at the bottom of the cane.
All to the patents described above require structural differences between the cane being described and a conventional cane to an extent that a conventional cane cannot be readily modified to perform in accordance with the described invention. What is needed is a grasping apparatus that can be applied to a conventional cane, which is not otherwise modified, with the apparatus providing the grasping function. Preferably, such apparatus can also be removed to restore the cane to its previous condition, and then reinstalled on the cane or on another cane.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,956 describes a cane having an attached switch and reversible motor drive mechanism turning a screw to close and open a pair of opposed jaw-like gripping members.
What is needed is a simple apparatus, removably attachable to a conventional cane, to transfer a mechanical movement from an area near the handle to a gripping mechanism at the cane tip.